Incomprehensible Romance
by anonymously-tenacious
Summary: Falling for him was laughably and impossibly easy but difficult to accept. To pursue her feelings for him was a risk she willingly took. She disposed of what she had to acquiesce to this new side of incestuous romanticism.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, okay. I admit it was wrong of me to read your diary without your permission."

"You don't need my permission because you aren't allowed to read my diary in the first place! Get that through your thick head!"

Max frowned when the pace to her lettuce chopping became relentless, probably venting her anger on the poor green vegetables.

"So, I-assume you're making dinner for yourself?" he asked carefully, because she looked _pretty_ angry.

"I'm not **that** petty as to deny you dinner Max. Why would I? Just because you messed up my relationship with a boy who has powers **like me** and probably understood me best?"

"Uh... _yes_?"

Phoebe glanced sideways, piercing him with a dark glare, before she winced, dropping the knife to the floor with a re-soundable clank!

"That looks painful, want me to take a look at it?" It did look painful, judging by the rush of red blood and the pained expression she sported, Max was certain she cut herself pretty deeply.

"I don't want your help, you'll probably just make it worse." she refused, pursing her lips in pain at the throbs in the now visible diagonal cut across her finger.

"How about I order pizza instead?"

"Ramen noodles and sushi."

"On it."

xXx

"I can't believe you ate the last piece of sushi."

"Not my fault you have sloths for fingers." He concentrated on adjusting the chopsticks in his hand, swiftly avoiding her glare in the process. "Don't give me that look, you know its true."

Phoebe sighed, feeling miserable, knowing she still hadn't heard a word from Link and the wait was eating at her. Their relationship for all she knew was over, at least that's what she thought. She still remembers his betrayed expression, his stern, firm voice when he voiced his displeasure and distrust.

He wordlessly left her stranded in the middle of Splatburger, shocked and mostly heartbroken.

Besides Cherry, Link is the only one friend she has who had knowledge of her powers and her superhero identity, something she wasn't allowed to disclose to anyone else, only difference being that Link was the one she found closure in, and most importantly - love. So the thought of losing him forever shook her.

Another sigh escaped her lips, turning to face the cause that got her tangled in her current predicament. Max, her twin, one individual who greatly troubled her, from her love to her social life. Max intervened, making it his lifelong ambition to bring her great misfortune.

She shook her head. Although he was invasive, immature and annoying, she couldn't find it in herself to stay mad at him, even if she tried, she just couldn't, probably because he was her other half.

"That was a fill."

At his voice, she blinked and acknowledged the 2 chopsticks in the empty bowl before her. Her eyes closed in silent frustration in effort of keeping her emotions in check.

"You finished the noodles."

"I thought you lost your appetite so I took initiative. I couldn't let all that food go to waste now could I."

"Max, you're selfish and inconsiderate of others."

He stood up, levitating a napkin into his awaiting hand to wipe away at his lips, beckoning her stand up.

"All the more reason to eat out."

"What?"

"Allow me to take you out, as a gesture of apology for screwing your relationship with Link." he said with palatable seriousness.

Phoebe sighed. She had no intentions of going out, no intentions of showing her face outside home either, no matter how hungry she was.

"Look, Max, I know you're sorry and-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. I'll get you out of this house even if it gets to the point of you kicking and screaming in my arms, or simply an icicle."

He wasn't joking, for once the humor in his carefree demeanor was as absent as he stared with such a godly intensity.

"Alright, fine." she relented, accepting his outstretched hand as she rose to full height, levitating her nearby purse into her hands, turning to follow him. "Where exactly?"

He smirked.

"Splatburger."

xXx

"I still don't think this is a good idea Max."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it because we're already here." He took a seat, frowning when he felt her sit next to him. "You do realise there's an empty seat right across me, right?"

Phoebe glanced around, nervous as her eyes danced across the vicinity. "I know,"

"You'll eventually have to face him Phoebe, whether you like it or not."

"But not today!"

"Well, fate has other plans because here he comes." Max said, flicking his head to the entrance.

Phoebe immediately clung to him, stuffing her panicked face into his arm in efforts to remain unseen.

"I-Is he gone?"

The response was light tremors resonating from his chest, prompting her to release him, eyes dancing around in search of her probable blonde ex.

"Heh, you should've seen your face."

"Jerk!"

"Come on, what do you wanna eat?"

"Fries, and lettuce." she answered hastily, still remaining by his side, hands clutching his arm, watching him fiddle with the table tablet, tapping in her order.

xXx

Dinner wasn't savoury since she had to keep an eye out for Link. She wasn't prepared to meet with him, the prominent fear of being dumped agonisingly chewing at her heart.

But as the night dragged on, she unconsciously managed to forget about Link and all her worries courtesy of her twin who littered her with actual humorous one liners and his recent pranking endeavors which left her a snickering mess and in a surprisingly good mood.

Figuratively pertinent, Phoebe horizontally aligned her legs along the blue couch. "You know, today is probably by far the best day I've enjoyed spending time with you." she mused, more to herself, but enough for him to hear. "We didn't argue or fight, we simply sat like normal siblings and enjoyed a tranquil evening."

Max nodded, eyes trailing the black monitor borders out of sheer boredom, not finding the content on display of any interest.

"Max, how do you live single?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean is, don't you want to be in a relationship?"

"Actually, I don't."

"Why not?"

"I'll have to worry about the way I smell, the way I dress, the manner in which I hold myself, including my behaviour among others, arriving at school on time, treating our principal with respect, who by the way lives inside said school." he listed in monotone, "I'm not going to make my life miserable just because of some girl, nor do I plan to. Besides, girls are annoying, and worry about fickle things such as their nails and their hair."

"Yet you know so much about them."

"Well duh, I live with you don't I? You're literally the manual on 'reasons why **not** to get into a relationship'."

"Max... I just don't get you sometimes."

He grumbled, brandishing his phone out of his pocket, scrolling down in search of a specific name.

"What are you doing?"

"Texting Link so we can up meet tomorrow."

She suddenly sat up.

"What?! Why?!"

"Yeah, you and I are going to meet Link so I can explain that this was all a misunderstanding and it was my fault, not yours. You guys will make up and go on dates like you used to before, as if none of this ever happened."

"But-but... you can't just do that!"

"You do want the guy back don't you?" he asked with a risen eyebrow.

She faltered, not meeting his eyes. "Well, yeah... but I don't think I'm ready to face him yet."

"You will be when you face him. Besides, I'll be there to make sure you don't say anything stupid,"

"You're actually willing to help me?"

"Yeah, it is kinda my fault the two of you aren't on speaking terms." he noted, glancing to the side. "You don't deserve this, he doesn't either. That's why **I** have to make things right, so let me."

Phoebe felt purpose at his words, and something else, something else that caused a perfect diagonal blush to appear across her cheeks as her hand moved to grab his, slowly threading her fingers through his, offering a light squeeze.

"Thanks." she said earnestly.

"Don't mention it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Phoebe woke to a bing! of her phone. Her hand slithering through the sheets to grab the device, unlocking it, she immediately bolted up at the notice of Link's name on her notification panel.

'I-Its from Link!'

She quickly entered her password, biting her lip in anticipation when she pressed the menu button, her finger pausing on the messaging icon.

'What if he! What if I!'

She couldn't possibly read the message. Besides, what if he doesn't want to see her again? Or maybe he was texting her to refuse from meeting with them?

'What do I-wait, that's it!

Her mind made up, she flung the sheets off of her and bolted downstairs.

* * *

Everything was perfect.

He had finally conquered the planet. Defeated all superheroes who dared defy him and those who were against his supremacy. His intentions weren't heinous at all, no, not all. What he planned during his reign of earth was to bring worldwide peace among all nations. Of course there were those who deemed the notion both delirious and delusional, but he was a man of his word, so he proved everyone wrong by creating a machine unheard of to mankind.

He spent an entire month in his fortress, working on his newest invention, making it a reality, with the ambition to prove his godly ingenuity. Everything went smoothly and accordingly, just as he had envisioned. Months passed and he finally issued a live worldwide feed.

As the self proclaimed ruler of planet earth, Max claimed he had found the solution to forth bring world wide peace. A panel of questions from on how he would accomplish seizing the tensions among nations and other worldly controversies that threaten the survival of mankind, his answer was simple:

Take away the powers of both heroes and villains.

Immediate protests were in order but they fell on deaf ears. He presented his innovation to the world and activated it, projecting a beam into the sky, turning it into an eerie and ominous blue.

In a few days, every villain and hero had lost their powers with the exception of him. The hero and villain leagues without their particular set of powers were forced to band as one unit .

The world was now at peace, all thanks to one ambitious good looking teenager who took initiative and settled the disputes among earthly governments who were slowly but surely destroying such a pure, magnificent planet.

Max now resided in a large ship based in space, dubbed the 'Overseer'. Which only he and his dark empress inhabited. His dark empress of the night. Although the world was littered with beautiful girls, he knew only one qualified to rule beside him. His search had come to an end when he made up his mind and chose her, he was sure it was her. Headstrong, opinionated, but she was right for him, that much was enough. She was extremely pretty, her incomparable beauty always left him shaking his head, patting himself on his back for his accomplishment in finally settling down from all the work.

He was young, so was she. He considered himself lucky, because he believed he'd never find love since he deemed such an emotion fickle and meaningless. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to care. She loved him for all the worth and egoistic he was. At the break of dawn, he let loose a yawn, feeling another weight on top of him. Dark locks laid on his chest, tickling his skin. When he opened his eyes, big elegant shining brown eyes and a naughty smile greeted him. He absentmindedly shut his eyes.

"I know you're awake."

Her heavenly voice did nothing to evoke the action, too deep in fear of this being a dream.

"Wake up."

He isn't taking chances, although her voice vaguely sounds familiar.

Max, wake up.

Wait, hold on, he recognised that voice.

Wake up!

He bolted upright, immediately feeling pain to his forehead.

"Darn it!"

"Ouch!"

The distinct voice pulled him out of his pained reverie to acknowledge his twin fervently rubbing her forehead with her eyes closed. Their eyes met. Slack jawed, and still a bit shaken from his dream.

"Empress?"

Phoebe didn't give away any recognition to the title but she did shake her head in exasperation as her face contorted to an annoyed glare.

"I tried waking you up but you kept on making this stupid face."

Max was taken aback at the response, before taking a look at his surroundings.

Right.

He sighed and ran his fingers across his scalp. It was all a dream.

"What do you want?" he asked in an unusual monotone, trying to shake out the residue cobwebs of fantasy out of his mind.

Phoebe shoved her phone into his chest, trudging a distance away, pacing back and forth. "Link sent me a text message, and I'm afraid to read it." she glanced at him. "I want you to read it. If it's bad news, like really really bad news, I don't want you to tell me. No! I want you to tell me, but you have to make it sound nice, yes, nice bad, get it, get it?!"

"Phoebe, calm down!" he yelled, shaking her shoulders until she visibly calmed taking a deep breath. He stepped away from her, adjusting her phone, scoffing as he read the message. "He said we can swing by during lunch."

Phoebe sighed in relief, taking her phone from Max, smiling. "That's a relief, I can't believe I got worked up over nothing."

"While nursing your relief, could you get me a bandage?"

"What for?"

He glared, pointing to his red forehead.

* * *

As Phoebe sat with Cherry, she couldn't help but ponder on what Max said earlier. The memory having only registered her mind more defined.

Empress - was the first thing to leave his mouth at the sight of her.

She remembered a time when Max mentioned that apart from fulfilling his lifelong ambition of becoming the greatest supervillain was to have someone rule beside him, someone he could confide in, a partner of sorts, specifically female.

Empress.

Phoebe knew that the dark empress of the night was a spouse, the only woman he'd truly love. And that's what ate at her. Why would Max call her that? She knew he was dreaming but she still felt a bit bothered. She's his sister and he's her brother, they are twins.

"Bestie, is everything alright?"

She shook the impervious thoughts out of her head. She couldn't bother torture herself with such unacceptable wrong thoughts. It wouldn't get her anywhere. "Honestly, no. I'm nervous about facing Link."

Cherry smiled. "Well, that shouldn't bother you because your brother will be there to make things right between the two of you, right?" she asked, secretly snickering at the fact she said 'right' twice in the same sentence.

Phoebe shook her head. "I'd say you have too much faith in Max, but even I know how persuasive he can be."

"When are your parents coming back from Hero Con?"

"In a couple of days."

Her phone shook within the confines of her pocket, brandishing it to acknowledge the content displayed on screen.

"It's from Max."

"What does it say?"

Phoebe stood up, packing her books into her bag, sending her blonde best friend an apologetic smile. "Sorry Cherry, I have to go. Max just reminded me of something important."

"I can't believe you just used 'important' and 'Max' in the same sentence."

Phoebe actually took a moment to regard Cherry's words, finding them true. Well it was true, so far he hadn't pranked her probably because he still felt guilty for reading her diary and the fiasco created because of him having read said diary.

"You can say we've been getting along lately." she explained, reaching out to hug her friend, moving to the door.

"Hasn't it been just two days since he read your diary?" Cherry called out, escorting her friend to the door.

"Progress has to start somewhere." Phoebe waved. "Wish me luck!"

* * *

Phoebe hesitantly sat next to her twin, across her to-be ex if things went south.

"Hi, Link."

"Phoebe."

"Okay, now that salutations are out of the way, let's get this show on the road because I'm Max Thunderman; busy man and places to be, catch my drift?" Max inquired, looking across Link who's lips twitched in amusement at his antics. "Right, as you know, my band got a sweet deal to perform here at SplatBurger on condition we impress customers so they come back."

"I know of that." Link agreed, having occasionally seen Max and his band perform on his roundabout shifts.

"So we perform and get free food, it was that simple." Max explained further. "But as days passed, the guys started complaining about the lyrics. So I, as band leader needed to get new lyrics, so I kind of looked for the nearest inspirational source I could get my hands on."

Link noticed Phoebe suddenly glare at Max.

"Which happened to be her diary."

Link gaped. "You read your sister's diary, and sang about everything in it as lyrics for the songs you performed?"

"The way you say it makes it sound like a big deal."

"That's because it is a big deal Max. You don't read your sister's diary."

"The way you say it makes it sound like you have a sister."

Link glared, Phoebe subtly elbowed him.

"Look, Phoebe is great. Anyone would be lucky to have her as a girlfriend." he paused when they sent him looks. "I-I mean, she's my twin sister, so I know her better than anyone. And I'm probably the last person she'd tell anything she's not supposed to."

"I think that's pretty obvious Max."

"Then you have to know that she's been miserable without you."

Link looked at Phoebe, who shyly looked to the side. Max felt a trembling hand reach for his under the table, compelling him to glance at Phoebe before averting his gaze back to Link.

"Dude, we're sorry."

"Why is she sorry?"

"Because she wasn't supposed to write down your secret in the first place. It's yours, not hers. Just as it was her diary to read, not mine."

Link approved of the logic invested in that. He had no reason to cold-shoulder his girlfriend without hearing her side of the story.

"Max," he started, addressing the male twin, but his eyes remnant on his girlfriend. "Can I talk to your sister, alone?"

"Sure."

Phoebe looked him in the eyes and softly squeezed his hand. For some reason, she didn't want him to leave, even though she knew he had to. She was nervous as hell, the incoherent quiver of her lips didn't help in placating how nervous she felt. Ultimately, she released a sigh of forlorn, letting his hand go prompting him to stand up.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." he said, ruffling her hair, earning a well deserved glare, which wasn't meant probably because of the small smile gracing her lips as she watched him leave SplatBurger.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"How did it go?"

"Not even a 'good afternoon' dear twin sister'?"

"That's if you were dear to me."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, enthusiastically jumping on the couch, "Anyway, Link apologised for accusing me first hand and we agreed that if anything ever went wrong between us, we should immediately assume you had something to do with it."

"Nice to know I play a role in your relationship." Max remarked, reinserting the blue wire into the tiny hole, turning his invention around to reattach the handler to the main body. "I'm just glad you guys are back together. No human being should be able to make that face and sound that depressing."

Phoebe shot him a dirty look, but smiled nonetheless. "I'm touched, but thanks to you everything is back to normal. And I know I don't say this much, but you're a great brother."

Max clicked his tongue, hefting his invention into his arms. "Getting mushy, aren't we?"

"Warranted. You care about me. You just suck at saying it." she said with a shrug, sticking her tongue out to him. Max frowned and stepped on a button as the hatchet popped open. He slid down the slide and willed a nearby remote into his hand. He pressed a button.

Crash!

Silence ensued for a few seconds.

Max smirked.

Three.

Two.

One.

"I TAKE IT BACK! YOU'RE THE WORST BROTHER EVER!"

* * *

"My butt still hurts from that stunt you pulled last night."

"Would you stop whining already? That's just your butt pimples talking."

"S-Shut up!" she yelled, embarrassed, carefully taking a seat. "Seriously Max, my butt really hurts."

"And would you please stop mentioning your butt already? Geez Phoebe, I have no intentions of finding out what goes up in there, okay?" he joked with a silent murmur, snickering as he ducked beneath the couch pillow that flew over his head.

"Jerk."

Max ventured into the kitchen, already fiddling to fill the kettle with water, a forlorn expression etched on his face. "This is so boring."

"What?"

"I still don't get why mom and dad insisted to take Dr Colosso to that stupid convention with them. They could've left him with me instead of leaving me here stuck with you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Which is why the two of us are going to throw the wildest party ever!" he announced, grinning from ear to ear, before frowning when he saw her shaking her head. "If that's a no, they should change your name from Phoebe to buzzkilllington."

"We are not throwing a party Max. And if I remember correctly, mom and dad left me in charge, so no party."

"What! But mom said I was in charge," he protested. She sent him a smug smile, which he immediately read. "false enactment?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh, which means we aren't throwing any party."

"You see, that's what you think is going to happen from your point of view."

"I'm serious Max. If we throw a party, mom and dad won't trust us again. They'll always ask someone to watch over us whenever they leave town, or worse, send us to go live with someone we can't stand. Think about it."

"Okay, let me think about it." he mused, developing a thoughtful expression, before turning back to her. "...I thought about it and I still say we throw a party."

"And have people soak their shoes in water? I don't think so."

He followed her gaze and stumbled to switch the kettle off, acknowledging the spills of water nearly everywhere.

"If this day gets anymore ho-hum, I swear."

* * *

"What's that?"

"Invitations I'm sending out, online."

She gawped. "Even after I told you there will be no party?"

"Especially when you told me there'd be no party."

"Max, you can't throw a party!"

"And just why not?"

"Because a party is on the list of things that mom and dad gave us on things we aren't supposed to do in their absence."

"Wait, they gave us a list?"

"They did!"

"And why wasn't I made aware of said list?"

"To avoid this. "

Max sighed. Their disagreements usually led to the destruction of a few things around the house, which he was trying to avoid by all means but classic Phoebe decided to get in the way of his plans, again.

"Alright, what do you propose we do?"

"We?"

"Yes, the two of us, the only living inhabitants present in the Thunderman household, us twins, us siblings-"

"Stop it! I get what you're trying to say."

"Seriously Phoebe, there's literally nothing to do. I'm bored out of my mind." he whined, slumping on his chair, perching his chin on the table to look at her.

Phoebe sat across him with a wince, to which he smirked at.

"I'd recommend pimple cream for that."

"I don't have pimples on my butt!"

"I know, I just find it hilarious at the number of times I get you to say the word butt. "

Phoebe shook her head, pertaining her sights to him, still wondering how he of all people could get bored with his inventions down stairs or the numerous pranks he could pull off on a whim courtesy of his boredom.

"I may as well just up and soul search."

"Good luck."

"Which you didn't need considered fate has a weird but sufficient way of pairing the weirdos together."

"I take offence to that!"

"There is no point in denying the lack of liveliness and animation to your relationship Phoebe."

"That's uncalled for Max."

"Sorry. I'm just so bored."

"Speaking off topic and kind of word play, what exactly is an Empress?" Phoebe inquired out of a sudden.

"Why do you ask?" he asked, surprised, though a part of him reminded him of what happened earlier when she barged into his lair and the mishap he might have mentioned.

"Cos earlier when I came into your lair, you had this dazed look on your face and called me your Empress," Phoebe noticed he appeared caught up, "was it a dream?"

"Y-You could put it like that." he replied, feeling imaginary anvils weigh down on both his shoulders when he made to stand up. "I'm going out."

"Where to?"

"Uh, SplatBurger?" he answered unsurely, instantly regretting it.

"Then I'm coming with you."

* * *

"Max!"

He snapped forward, eyes drinking in the visage of one Link Evilman, casually sitting across of him in his uniform, sending him a semi-worried look.

"Whah-what is it?"

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy!"

"Are you sure? Because you've been trying to drill a hole into the table with your eyes for the past three minutes."

"I've been uh," he noticed Phoebe send him a confused expression, compelling him to compose himself. "Just, thinking about which new conditioner, to uh, use for my hair." he explained, running a hand through his hair for emphasis.

Link diverted his attention back to Phoebe. "I have to return to my shift. Thanks for coming to spend lunch with me." A swift turn of his face and he planted a chaste kiss on her lips and wandered away.

Max inwardly groaned when Phoebe's head rotated to face his.

"Max."

"What is it?"

"Are you okay? Your face is all red."

"I'm not blushing. I'm not flushed. I'm not flustered. I'm not embarrassed. What do you want from me?"

"Woah, calm down, I was just asking, no need to bite my head off."

"Sorry, your stupid boyfriend-"

"There we go! Now you're calling my boyfriend stupid."

"My bad, my bad," he apologized, swiftly marking his attempt of leaving when he stood up. "I think I'm gonna go home now, the food must have done something to me, probably explains why I'm not feeling well."

"Max, you haven't even ordered anything ever since we arrived." Phoebe ventured. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem edgy."

"Phoebe, why do you insist something's wrong with me?"

"I just-"

"I'm going home."

"But you didn't eat anything."

"I'll eat something at home."

"Okay then, I'm coming with you."

"Do you have to?" he asked, already feeling uncomfortable just being in her presence. "Link's shift ends in an hour. You could stay and wait for him."

"Yeah right, with me out of the way it'll be easier for you to throw that party you were going on about."

* * *

"Okay spill, what did I do wrong?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been ignoring me the entire way home."

"That was you talking?"

She sent him a look.

"Look, I just have a lot on my mind, is'all." he explained offhandedly, sinking into the couch, a soft yawn escaping his lips as he randomly flipped through the channels.

"Is it about what I asked earlier?"

"No, no it isn't." He stood up, a precise turn around the couch and he was trudging toward the dark narrow hallway leading to the door of his lair. That's if she didn't move faster to stand before him.

"What are you doing?"

"You haven't eaten anything all day."

"I'm on a diet,"

"Max."

"I'll eat in the morning, now please get out of my way-"

"You're acting weird because I brought up that 'Empress' thing, aren't you?"

"Yes. You satisfied? Now please move out of the way."

Phoebe momentarily faltered, not having expected him to acquiesce to her accusations.

"So in extension to your dream. I AM your Empress?"

"Pheebs, just forget whatever I said-"

"How can I forget it when you're acting this weird and I'm probably the cause of it since you dreamt about me?"

"Dreams don't apply to reality Phoebe."

"Don't they?"

"Look, I just dreamt about you-me..." he paused when her head subtly elevated in anticipation. "us, fighting-"

"You dreamt about the two of us kissing."

A sloth could have done a better job of etching fake disbelief on his face but his clipped response probably gave him away. "Is that the best you could come up with? The two of us doing something so taboo and unheard of? No, we did anything but do what you're insinuating."

"So we did kiss in your dream."

If he wasn't utterly embarrassed and drenched with guilt, he would have slapped himself hard, so hard for falling prey to the cheapest and probably oldest trick in the book.

"How'd you know?"

"You looked weird when Link kissed me at Splatburger." she pointed out. "And the fact that you're finding it difficult to keep your eyes off my lips."

"All the more reason to go to bed and sleep off this embarrassment."

He made to turn around her, successful doing so, three heartfelt steps and his heart dropped within the cagey confines of his ribs when a hand clutched his arm.

"Wait."

"If you're going to make fun of me, can't it at least wait until tomorrow when I'm better prepared for it?"

Phoebe felt her own misguided heart prickle in regard of her own intentions.

"Kiss me."

He nearly forgot to breathe.

"What?"

"I know you didn't hear me stutter."

"No."

"If you don't, I will."

"But-"

"If we kiss. The dreams won't bother you anymore."

"I don't think that's how it works Phoebe."

Phoebe's smarts went to work. "You're my brother. A kiss won't mean anything. Unless I start assuming you never kissed a girl before."

Max looked insulted. "For your information, I'm not new to kissing and the only reason I don't want to kiss you is because it will be weird and I have no intentions of coughing up my breakfast."

Phoebe rolled her eyes and raised her hands, forcefully dragging his face into hers and captured his lips.

His nose brushed against hers ever so tenderly as he returned the gesture with unabated complacent enthusiasm. It wasn't anywhere lengthy. Phoebe retracted, immediately turning around without glancing at him and his frozen perplexed expression.

"We're having shrimp for dinner."

Max stared at her retreating back, a grin threatening to cleave his face in half. His tummy actually churned in disbelief. The kiss wasn't bad. Her lips were soft.

"I love shrimp."

She turned in the most dramatic of flair, his eyes never leaving that wonderful smile of hers before she wordlessly continued into the kitchen before his mouth decided to ruin things.

"Link is going to kill me."

She managed to have heard him.

"Why?"

"You see, thing is, I just happen to remember that we never actually kissed in my dream."

"Wait, what?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

"Earth to Max."

He sat up, rubbing at his eyes, feeling drowsy and exhausted. He yawned, scratching the back of his head, eyes opening to see Link and Phoebe seated across him.

"You've been sleeping and mumbling for a while now."

"Did, I say anything weird?" he asked carefully. Link seemed neutral, as he usually was. Phoebe, whom he decisively chose not to look at, didn't make any moves to address him which he deduced to be a good thing.

"You were chanting the word shrimp, you were dreaming about shrimp, I think."

Max sighed in relief, relatively not feeling well either due to the fact he dreamt kissing his twin sister, not once, but twice. Only this time it felt real, uncomfortably too real that he could faintly feel the tell tails of her lips on his.

"What time is it?"

"Its four to six," Phoebe offered.

Link glanced at his watch. "In which my next shift starts, I have to get ready," he leaned over and kissed Phoebe.

"Can you please not do that in front of me?" Max invested, feigning disgust when he too made to stand up. "Come on sucky-face, I'm leaving, you coming?"

Link chuckled, as did Phoebe who stood up, hugging the former. It was a long bid off girly laughs as Max stared making a funny face.

"Okay, you're gonna need a new gender because I'm officially revoking your dude membership." Max jested.

Link shook his head, ignoring her girlfriend's twin bother in favour of bidding Phoebe with a last kiss.

Max was halfway through the door.

* * *

"You haven't eaten anything at SplatBurger." she pointed out,

"Keen observation."

She poked him in the ribs. Max decided a happy Phoebe always treaded friendly and friendly. "Want me to cook you up a little something?"

"I'll save you the trouble of concocting a new type of poison."

"Are you always such a jerk when someone wants to do something nice for you?"

"You've lived with me for the past seventeen years and you're only figuring that out now? Is the rock you lived under still warm?"

"Are you still grumpy about the party?"

"I'm not grumpy about the party Phoebe."

A frowning Phoebe watched him wordlessly hurry for his lair.

* * *

He removed the goggles from his face, blinking to readjust his vision.

Standing before him was a machine, relatively small in size similar to a generator only this one had cables protruding from the sides and a small screen on the top surface of it, a radar below it as well as a handwritten scale.

"Max!"

Phoebe stepped in, acknowledging the black lace gloves on his hands, stood up, prepping his legs in a quick warmup.

"What are you doing?"

"Proving that my intelligence isn't deterred even by sheer boredom." he responded simply. Nodding to himself, Max pressed a switch on his invention, the small screen flickering to life in a hue blue.

"What does that do?" she inquired, perturbed by the small object perched before him, equally interested as the trim lines on both gloves and shoes glowed an eerie blue, similar to the small screen on his weird object. "Okay, apart from the dorky look with all the black and blue, why don't you fill me in on the rest."

"Haven't you always had the desire to fly?"

Phoebe frowned.

Max pat the small box like invention. "This baby, diverts our powers to certain parts of our bodies. Through a sync with my gloves and shoes."

"Oh-kay, now you got me all lost."

"Our telekinesis for instance. We normally just use our fingers to pull objects into our grasp but when you think about it, our telekinesis is derived from our minds-"

"Skip the tedious lecture and get to the point Max."

"It would be easier if I just showed you." He pressed another button, the soles of his shoes taking on a darker blue. It only took a few seconds before his feet lifted from the ground.

Phoebe gaped at his hovering figure.

"Y-you're flying!"

Max nodded with a smug smirk, crossing his arms as his frame floated toward the small staircase and out of the door.

* * *

Phoebe rushed into the living room to see him flying about in a relaxed, carefree position with a cheek resting on a palm.

"How are you flying?!"

"I equally divided the trajectory of my telekinesis throughout my body, mainly my feet." he explained, standing upright in midair as he crossed his arms in a scrutinizing manner, looking down at her with perceived superiority. "Cool isn't it?"

She nodded, before clasping her hands together, trying to mummer up a cute expression up at him, which he immediately recognized as he floated towards his lair with a gesture of a hand.

"Come on, follow me."

* * *

"That's two points for me!"

"What! No way! That was a regular sized one! I didn't even feel-oof!"

"Ha! Do you feel it now?"

Max silently cursed, dropping to the floor to hide behind the kitchen island. He peered over the corner, to regret it when something hard and cold smashed into his face.

"Argh! Cheap shot!"

"You're just saying that because you're losing!"

He was losing because she was on the upper level, having advantage due to her radical aim which was much better and more precise. He figured that was the only position she could take given it gave her access to the bathroom water supply since he had already called dibs on the kitchen tap. Max thought hard, and collected six snowballs into his arms, using his telekinesis to silently open the backdoor, silently stepping through on his short venture to her bedroom window.

He used his telekinesis to open her window, cautiously floated inside, shaking his head due to having smelled the invasive girly scent in her room as his feet touched the floor. Reaching her open door, he poked his head into the hallway, squinting his eyes to notice her bent over at the end of the hallway with three snowballs hovering by her side.

"Heh, loser." he whispered, preparing a ball of ice as he cautiously stepped into the hallway. A thorough swipe of his hand, and the four snow balls were launched straight towards the unexpected bum of one Phoebe Thunderman.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

* * *

"I-It hurts." she whimpered, looking down to see him still cackling and rolling on the floor in laughter. "Its not funny!"

He sat up, clutching his stomach, wiping away the tears. "Y-your butt still hurts?"

She grind her teeth and replied meekly. "Yes."

He opened his mouth in laughter, only for a snowball to precisely mark its direct hit on his mouth leaving him sputtering. Phoebe smiled at his coughing fit.

"Pft, still beats having pimples on your butt."

"Mm-mm. Fair retribution. Your taste buds drenched in toxic release opposed to my..butt pimples."

* * *

"Gross! I can still taste pee in my mouth!"

"That'll teach you to make fun of my butt pimples."

He stopped to look at her funny.

"If I had any! If had any!"

Max sighed, throwing off the last boot to the floor, sinking into the couch next to her, suddenly feeling frost hints of air seep into his body causing him to shiver momentarily. "T-today was not bad."

"You're right. I've never had this much fun before."

"Yes you did, we had a snowball fight in school last semester."

"But it pales in comparison to this." she retorted tiredly. "We flew, we actually flew."

"Say it, come on say it, you know you want to."

"Okay fine." she relented. "Max, you're such a genius."

"Heh, I know."

Phoebe sighed, she was tired from all the flying. As fun as it was, she wanted to lie down, preferably in the hot tub with warm water draping all over her shivering body to warm up.

"The house is all wet,"

"We can worry about that later."

The house was literally wet, water dripping from the stairs, formed pools on the kitchen floor. Phoebe felt Max shiver beside her, she too was cold, she could testify the wetness of her undergarments given the subtle movements of her legs in efforts to keep still and govern what little warmth she could.

"I'm hungry."

"I'm cold, tired and hungry."

"Sandwiches?"

"On it."

Phoebe stood up with a squishy sound as she slowly trudged towards the kitchen, feeling each of her limbs tremble as cold air swiveled into the lounge, slamming into her body, her teeth making their debut chatter.

She turned to notice Max still slumped on the couch, a swift glare from her compelled him to stand up. Two, three steps, and he slipped in an unceremonious forward descend as Phoebe cushioned his fall to a downward tumble. His arms were on both sides of her head, hers were struggling to keep his upper body from making contact with hers as the proximity between their faces infused.

Phoebe released a shaky breath, eyes widening by the second when she felt her arms slowly fail to maintain their hold, buckling under the pressure. His eyes momentarily flickered, face subtly tinting to an ominous light blue and before she could do anything, his eyes completely shut, her arms numbed and lost feeling, his face fell, lips precisely landing on hers.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Phoebe, found it incomprehensible lying beneath her brother, with his lips on hers. New found warmth slowly but surely crept into her body, she was flustered, disgusted, embarrassed, but mostly flustered and something else, that specific question mark she occasionally finds herself unable to answer whenever it comes to him. It was always there.

His lips were cold and almost hard, but she could identify the palatable softness to them. Against all odds her upper body warmed up, given the cold asphalt around them her lips quivered in correlation to a shiver, but she ignored that, because she knew very well that from another point of view she basically just moved her lips against his in regard to the kiss.

Pain, which was actually just concealed guilt pooled within her chest, compelling her to raise her arms, managing to push his face to the side, shuddering when sensations of low inadequate temperate skidded from his facial cheeks to her upon contact with her neck.

She painstakingly remained still, hoping he'd read her action of having pushed him away as a sign of what happened to be regarded as a simple mistake. She expected him to do anything, yet he remained lethargic, not moving an inch. She couldn't trust her voice, nor did she have the strength to forcefully push him off, she was just too tired and the glaring goosebumps on her skin weren't just for display either.

She slowly cleared her throat, subtly raising her head and tilting it to the side near the ear visible in the corner of her eye.

"M-Max..." she croaked out, inwardly chastising herself for the stammer, before trying again. "Max... get off,"

Nothing.

"Max." she tried more harder, solidly.

No response.

"Max?"

When he didn't respond for the third time, Phoebe marked her apprehension and lifted a finger against his neck, precisely against his jugular vein, sighing in relief when she felt a pulse, albeit a very slow one.

She blushed, and nearly kicked herself, judging by his slowly breathing she deduced he was unconscious. He kissed me in his sleep. Max kissed me. Naturally, the thought itself would leave her appalling in speechless disgust, but that question mark would invade and twirl her mind toward foreign pleasant thoughts she didn't want to entertain.

Phoebe shifted her body, moving to tend to her twin brother.

* * *

Max was awake, immediately slapping the warm cloth off of his forehead, feeling an insatiable hunger settle within him, his mouth an arid dry land.

"Max."

He looked up, Phoebe appeared at her door with a tray littered with sandwiches, setting it down at her bedside.

"What happened? Why am I in your room? And why is it so cold?" he asked rubbing his bare arms, compelling him to acknowledge his lack of shirt. "And why am I naked?"

"You, uh..." Phoebe stuck, because he expectantly stared with an intensity that caused her to momentarily track back to the moment of the 'accidental kiss'. "you fell unconscious, so I uh, brought you here."

"My lair was closer." he prodded smartly and in remarkable fashion of picking up where his memories left, levitating the tray into his lap, not wasting time to stash and shove a sandwich into his mouth.

"You don't have spare sheets,"

"I fell unconscious huh?"

A thought struck her. Could it be the day he almost spent an hour at the north pole affected his system? Phoebe shook her head. "Yeah, you're pale all over." she said, pointing to his face and chest.

Max brushed his lips against each other, feeling the scratches of minor chaps, he stared up at her. "But why did I fall unconscious?"

"I, don't know, you slipped and fell."

"A hot shower is in order then." he said, pushing the tray aside, getting out of her bed. "Where's my shirt?"

"Drier."

"Thanks."

"Don't be long in the shower, we still have to clean up, the house is still wet all over."

"Easy, I have a thermal blaster beneath my bed, we install that in the air conditioning filter, activate it to maximum, and release a flutter of heat waves across the house evaporating all excess water in seconds." he explained as he left.

She was rendered speechless.

* * *

"So what, we just watch TV all day?"

They were on the couch, two large blankets draping over their forms as they sat and watched television, literally bored out of their minds. Phoebe was nervous and hesitant at first because of the last time Max pranked her, but he managed to convince her that he removed the clank ejector from beneath the couch cushions.

Now here they were, bored out of their minds, watching some action romance movie that dated back to the early 90's.

"Its not like we can actually go out somewhere, its too late."

"I guess you're right." he agreed, shivering a bit. "Please tell me I'm not the only one freezing to death here."

"If the fact that I can't feel my toes count, then yes."

"I mean, I know it doesn't snow in Hiddenville but-" he cut himself off, the content on the television catching his attention. "Okay, now that's just cliché, seriously."

"Nah, its kind of cute that he goes back for her."

"He's stupid if you ask me. I mean, he'd willingly go and save a girl knowing he'll be risking his life in the process."

"Max, that's a contemporary trend in all movies with the genre of action romance," she explained swiftly. "You wouldn't know because you don't have a girlfriend."

He shook his head. "I know I'm impulsive, but I'm not idiotic enough to run to my death to save another life. Be practical, you wouldn't either."

"Max, love-"

"Will get you killed, thank you very much."

Phoebe found his statement untrue. At a point he seemed interested in some girl...

"Hey, what's that girl's name?" she asked ominously, glancing beside her. "Uh, that hotheaded girl who 'treasured nature with all her heart', yeah, what's her name?"

Max frowned, before groaning.

"Allison."

"That's it, what happened between you two?"

"Well, she loved the earth before anything else, whatever that meant." he said sourly. "I later realised she's a freak and I'm not into freaks."

"She dumped you."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night buddy."

"Okay, when did this conversation go from movie reviewing to bashing Max's nonexistent love life?"

"I'm just saying-"

"I wish I was that guy, and you were that girl." he remarked suddenly. "I'd totally leave you behind."

"No, you wouldn't."

"Yes I would."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

"You wouldn't because I'm your twin sister and you care for me."

"No, no I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"I don't care about you Phoebe."

Phoebe shoved him.

"Glad you get the picture."

A tense silence fell over the living room. Phoebe's growing animosity was profound. He didn't care about her. He probably didn't mean it but he sounded so convincing and it saddened her because she could not find it within herself not to care for him. It came with the package of what she was made of.

"At least I'm not a jerk who'll probably end up living in their parent's basement for eternity."

"I'm not some naïve little rod in the world who thinks everything is sparkly and that the world revolves around her." he retorted aimlessly.

"You're disobedient, belligerent, fail all your other subjects, have a reputation as an obnoxious prankster, socially inept which is why the only friends you have is an entourage that possesses correlative intelligence of whom you form a little boy band with, and your best friend is a rabbit."

"You're a girl."

Phoebe openly gaped. That was a low blow and he knew it.

"And you're a boy without any magnitude to his existence."

"You're still a girl."

"And you-"

"Female."

"That doesn't-"

"Two X chromosome."

"Max, you're-."

"I still don't care about you."

"What makes you think I care about you?!"

Max shifted to his side, maybe he went too far with the gender callous remarks. Phoebe was fuming. Max grunted when she pushed him onto his back.

"Just because you're a boy doesn't make you any better than me!" she bit out with a not-so gentle poke against his chest. "You-you're an egomaniac and all you care about is yourself!"

Max was about to open his mouth, but relented from saying anything when she looked to talk again.

"You try and paint this bad boy image to make others think you don't care about anything but what you don't know is that you're going to end up alone!" she revealed, poking harder.

Max was appearing to be listening, but he wasn't actually listening. To him she was just flapping her gums about what he deduced to be his traits which further his self-aggrandizement. Although at the first sign of her glistening eyes, his throat tightened.

"I've stuck by you each and every time Max! Every time you messed up, I was the one that had to clean up after you!"

"Pheebs! know, calm down! I hear you!" he tried, actually feeling the pokes become painful jabs to his chest. Luckily, she managed to hear him as she visibly calmed down, wiping away the wetness from the corner of her eyes.

"You're too self-absorbed and don't think about others. You see only you," she said softly, looking down at him. "and I hate myself for caring so much even when I know you don't care about me."

Max blinked, a slow smirk appearing on his face.

"In the grand scheme of things. It's established I still don't care about you to the point of drabbling over mushy feelings."

Similar to Max, her intellictual mind deciphered that but backwards.

"You love me."

Max scoffed, momentarily averting his face entirely to the side as an excuse to hide from reeling in shock at what she said, and to ease the thunderous thumps of his heart. Phoebe's eyebrows nearly made union when he said nothing, keeping his face stationed to the side, not saying anything...

"Max... you actually love me?"

He slowly faced her, mind running a thousand miles to conjure up anything to refute her claim.

"What are you talking about? I don't love you."

"I think you do."

"I don't love you."

"You do."

"I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Denial. You're denying it."

Phoebe ran her tongue across the roof of her mouth, before her face directly aligned above his, peering into his eyes, a certain, certain thought marking its permanent debut above all.

"Don't you think it is a coincidence? For one, you claim I am your Empress. Secondly, you deny proclaiming your love for me."

His left eye started twitching. Phoebe wiggled her eyebrows. There was a sly smile creeping on her face. "And since we both know the coward that you are. I'll take initiative and prove just how right I am."

"By all means, please do." he agreed, not denying his curiousness as to were this little play of theirs would lead.

Phoebe made the mistake of letting her logic stray even if just momentarily, which was enough for her insecurities to prevail and misdirect her. Her eyes fell to his lips before northing back up to his, which he noticed and read immediately, not believing she'd actually carry out whatever he thought she had in mind.

Phoebe's face tethered closer, and closer, and closer, keeping her eyes locked onto his, keeping her face in an inevitable descend, just in case he opts to out of as she expected him to. This was stupid, but her pride wouldn't let her back down. If it came down to it. Obviously, it wouldn't mean much, would it?

Yet. As Phoebe's nerves got the better of her. She realised it was actually going to happen. The ball was in her court and knowing him, he'd be all too happy to see her make a fool of herself so when their noses touched, Phoebe thanked the heavens when someone knocked on the front door. The anticipation slowly left her. It would have been much easier if he was unconscious, she realised.

"See who's at the door?"

Phoebe felt his breath, wondering why her thoughts were entertaining the likes of kissing her own brother. One look at him and her face tinted. "O-on it."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Phoebe tentatively pulled the door open, surprised when she acknowledged the individual who stood before her, all dressed up. "Link, what are you doing here?"

Phoebe stepped aside, allowing her boyfriend to enter their household, giving her the chance to properly look him over. He was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt, over-layed by a dark grey waistcoat, and black jeans asserted by polished black shoes.

"Sorry for coming so late and unannounced, but..." he pulled out a card, which from the looks of things appeared important, handing it to Phoebe.

"Reservation for two at, François?" she read, almost disbelievingly, clearly having knowledge of the high class restaurant.

"It's a last minute gift from my mother. The reservation is due tonight. I didn't want it to go to waste." Link explained, watching Max hoist himself from the couch.

Phoebe hesitated, turning to glance at Max who was busy shaking his head, probably judging Link's choice of clothing. A late night date at François, the notion itself was romantic and welcoming, since its not everyday you get invited for dinner at a fancy restaurant.

She smiled thinly, knowing she had no choice but to decline the offer. "Link, this is great and all, but-"

"Phoebe." Max interrupted sternly, sending her a putrid stare. "What do you think you're doing? François have the best shrimp in town, and this will probably be the only chance you get."

Link looked between the two, obviously sensing the reluctance in Phoebe, who probably by the look of things didn't want to leave her twin all by himself.

Max saw the upheld hesitancy before he rolled his eyes. "Pheebs, just go enjoy yourself." he said, "I swear on your life that I won't throw a party."

That wasn't what she was worried about, but she eventually caved and nodded, knowing she didn't have a say in the matter. "Alright fine, just give me a moment to get myself ready, I won't be long." She quickly hurried upstairs, leaving the two to themselves.

Max clicked his tongue. "Dude, are you seriously taking your girlfriend out to a fancy restaurant wearing this?"

Link frowned, looking himself over. "What's wrong with the way I dress?" He couldn't see what his outfit lacked, suffice to say he cleaned up very well.

"You look like a valet, that's what." he said simply, clutching the taller boy by the collar, pulling him through the hallway towards his lair, ignoring the protests.

* * *

"What did I get myself into?"

"Stop complaining, you look awesome."

"But I don't feel that way because I nearly look like you." Link softly patted his hair. "Especially my hair, what do you call it again?"

"Swoosh, it's a swoosh, version one-point-oh; you have shorter hair than mine."

"And this jacket-"

"Makes you look badass, final."

"And the shoes-"

"Are called sneakers for pete's sake, what world do you live in?"

Max stood up, smirking to himself. He rounded around Link to inspect anything out of place, mentally giving himself a pat on the back for his fine work. He had removed Link's waistcoat, replacing it with a black leather jacket instead, including the classic shoes he wore in favour of high cut black sneakers.

"I don't think Phoebe will like this, she'll probably think I look silly."

"That's because Phoebe doesn't have good taste in men. Which explains why she's with you but you win some, you lose some." Max quipped. "Plus, she's a girl, what does she know?"

Link merely shook his head, inwardly pitying whoever ends up dating Max. They cleared the hallway and into the lounge, to hear a clicking noise on the wooden staircase, compelling both boys to angle their heads to gaze at one descending Phoebe Thunderman.

She wore a black dress, littered with small diamonds that glistened in the light, including a strap-on black rose sidelined to her right hip. Dark brown hair cascading on both shoulders, a thin string adorning white beads around her neck, probably complimenting her white purse, last but not least, her heels, simple yet leathery elegant.

Link swallowed, Phoebe looked stunning, more than stunning, she looked beautiful! Disbelief scrubbed at his conscience, momentarily forgetting the fact he was her date, her boyfriend. He immediately shoved the impervious thoughts out of his mind, reminding himself he was the lucky guy that was taking her out on a date to a restaurant for a very expensive dinner that was already paid for and reserved for them.

As Phoebe stepped down the stairs, she stopped before the slide door behind her, nervously scratching her purse with a fingernail, eyes travelling toward the two rooted boys openly staring at her. Even through the drastic change of what he originally wore, Phoebe instantly spotted Link, him being taller a simple contributing factor to that.

Yet her eyes lingered on Max, who didn't bother masking his astonished expression, vehemently running his gaze along her undiluted figure.

"How do I look?"

Max clenched his jaw, knowing the inquiry was directed towards him given her eyes never left his for some reason he couldn't fathom. But nonetheless, self admittance to the fact she looked beautiful wasn't hard pressed. He couldn't believe his nerdy sister could pull this off - so alluring and majestically appealing.

It was a silent moment that lapsed between the three, recognised by Max, who harshly nudged Link causing the older boy to sputter into verbal coherency.

"You look, wow! You look-beautiful." he momentarily stammered, swallowing an audible lump when she nodded and continued her descend, prompting him to regard himself and questioningly glance at Max. "Max, I still don't think this is-"

"Stop worrying, no one will notice."

Phoebe stepped before them, smiling as she looked her boyfriend over. "You changed."

Link allowed a tentative nod. "Yeah,"

"You look handsome, in that jacket." Phoebe pointed out, her eyes making her way to his hair top. "but the hair is a dead give away, it literally screams 'courtesy of Max'."

Link glared at a snickering Max, before making way for the bathroom. As soon as he left, an immediate residue of awkwardness marked its presence around the twins, probably reflecting in their own right of what nearly transpired had Link not interrupted them earlier.

Phoebe cleared her throat, fishing into her purse, brandishing a hair pin and a small rubber twine, outstretching her hand towards him. He read her actions as he took the items from her hand and turned to step around her.

She smelled great, he deduced the pleasant fragrance swirling around her was probably a new perfume she bought. Too lost up in his thoughts as he tied her hair into a visible ponytail to avouch the way she tensed when his fingers momentarily brushed against her neck. Max motioned her to turn, brushing the braids of hair to the side, clasping them together between the pin mechanism, which brought out more of her face.

"You never told me how I look."

His eyes fell to expectant orbs, wondering why she would bring that up now, and why she needed his opinion of her attire in the first place.

"I think what your boyfriend said fit the bill perfectly," he replied with a careless shrug.

"I know, but I want to hear what you think." she prodded, frowning at the lack of audience and meaningful response from him.

"Why?"

"Max, can't you just this once, honestly compliment me, just this once?" she intently asked with mild annoyance.

"You look great, I guess."

Her eyebrows nearly met by a miniature inch. "That's it?"

"Well, what did you expect?" he retorted with a scoff.

"Oh I don't know, maybe something along the lines of beautiful, pretty, stunning."

"Pfft, you wish."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a hundred percent sure you're gonna use that against me in the future."

"I won't,"

"Yeah right."

"I swear I won't."

"I still won't say it."

She visibly scowled, before a devious thought struck her mind as she lashed out to pull on his nearest earlobe full well knowing he had sensitive ears.

"Ow, ow, ow! Phoebe, let go!"

"Not until you say I look beautiful and stunning."

"N-never!"

Her response was to jerk on his ear harder compelling him to release a girly whimper, biting his lip to contain the impending shrieks of pain, failing miserably when it was too much for him to bear.

"Alright, you win! You win! I'll say it! I'll say it!"

She let his ear go, a triumphant smile gracing her glossy lips.

He winced as he carefully nursed his throbbing ear, glaring at her when he regarded her exultant smile. "Tch, I still won't say it." he mumbled, regretting it when she threateningly raised her arm. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

She crossed her arms.

"You, look stunning."

"And?" she prodded him, with a slight shake of her head.

"I just said you're stunning. What more do you want from me?" he argued in protest, until he noticed her downtrodden, pleading expression. He scowled, running a hand through his hair, oddly finding it awkward and blaming it on Link who for some reason was taking too long simply rinse his hair and comb it back into its natural state.

A clearing of a throat persuaded him to raise his gaze, into her eyes. His hand rose to his mouth, a soft cough to ease himself and rid of the apprehension. "You are..look beautiful."

Phoebe's smile slowly but surely widened, reaching her eyes, thankful she applied make-up to conceal the temporary red freckles that diagonally landed on her cheeks accompanied by alien warmth. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

He shook his head sideways, only to find himself gaping when he felt lips softly push against his cheek, his vision a bit blurry, refocusing it to regard her already stepping back.

"Thanks."

He cleared his throat, rubbing away at the cheek she just kissed. "Yeah, just don't get used to it."

They heard Link step down the stairs with his hairstyle intact. "Right, I'm done, let's go." he said, directing a firm nod towards Max, moving out of the open front door, leaving the two twins with mere seconds to themselves.

"Make sure you lock the door."

He offered a mock salute. "Yes, mom!"

She stood still for a moment, pertaining her eyes to his prominent playful smirk, meeting his eyes, not finding fault with awkwardly hugging him, quickly stepping back with a falter, and a shaky smile.

"I promise I won't be long." she spewed unconsciously, but he nodded, sparing her from embarrassment.

"You should probably go," he asserted.

She fully stepped out of the door. The door knob was in his grasp, in a motion of a forward momentum to close it.

"Wait!"

He frowned, slightly holding it ajar.

"What now?"

"I'm... I am your Empress, right?"

"Of course not." he retorted with a knowing smirk, their playful banter returning at a time it wasn't needed.

"And you love me?" she asked, a small smile apparent on her lips.

"Take a wild guess."

She released a slow chuckle accompanied by a nod, before completely disappearing out of view.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Phoebe made it home to find Max sprawled on the couch with his limbs everywhere, snoring lightly which she found odd considered for the years they slept together as kids, he was never one to snore. _He's probably exhausted_ , she thought.

She passed him and onto the stairs, through the hallway and into her room, tugging her dress off, kicking her heels to the side. The night went well, as expected of course, with Link being a gentleman through meaningful gestures such as pulling her chair out for her, wiping sauce off of her cheek and repeatedly complimenting her. Yet even through all that, Phoebe could state that the night wasn't what she'd categorize as romantically unforgettable either, and she knew why.

Their relationship, her love for Link or whatever they had going on was withering, or already withered, simply put that the spark that once ignited their relationship wasn't there anymore.

The longer she thought about it the more prominent it became. She wasn't certain whether it was because of the recent dent courtesy of Max, but what she knew was that the vivid earnest of their relationship was gone. Link probably couldn't see it because it wasn't him, it was her.

For the past few days, she felt a little hollow when it came to them, including that weird pool of regret she felt the day she proposed the idea of them being the perfect pair, but as soon as it came she decisively diverted from such thoughts, reminding herself how great of a guy Link is and how lucky she was to have him in her life.

She sighed, levitating her pajama breaches into her grasp. It was an unwelcoming feeling to learn the love you harboured for someone was slowly fading away, and painful too.

She had to listen to the tales of his travels as they ate dinner, not something ideal given the occasion but she at least pretended to show some interest of his journeys across the world, something his father greatly enjoyed after retiring as a villain.

Pulling her blanket from her bed, she tiredly dragged herself out of her room, and into the hallway, down the stairs and into the living room, acknowledging the slumbering figure of her twin.

Max; the one aspect of her life that was now defined as a large question mark, feeling her heart thump a little too aggressive, something that occasionally happened whenever he's around, accompanied by that funny feeling, similar to the time she first laid her eyes on Cole; her first crush.

Her finger adjusted him to lean to the side, allowing her to inhabit the empty space beside him, another upward twitch of her finger draping the fabric over both their figures.

Yawning lightly, Phoebe peered across her twin through half lidded eyes, casually leaning in to press her lips on his cheek, retracting with a ghost smile, eyes eventually falling shut.

* * *

"Wake up."

"-away..."

"Wake up."

She flicked his nose, he lamely rose a hand to slap hers away proving futile when she retracted in time. She nicked his nose further, persuading him to unknowingly press his face into her side.

Phoebe then did something she wasn't conscious of, her hand ventured to his head, fingers soothingly raking along his scalp, feeling him shudder in what she deduced to be comfort.

Their relationship was progressive, each and every day they find a way to connect more, to further their companionship and strengthen their bond, this made Phoebe glad if not giddy.

"Phoebe."

She blinked, not knowing he was awake this whole time, containing a chortle when his murmur sent seismic tremors throughout her body.

"Yeah?"

"How did it go last night?"

"Fantastic."

"You mean it was that bad?"

She glared at his head, knowing she was unable to lie to him, it's always been that way between them.

"I'll admit it was kind of dull, but not entirely bad. We ate, talked, and ate more."

More like Link held both sides of their conversation, but she wasn't about to tell him that probably figuring she wouldn't hear the end of it. Max kept silent, breathing against her side, subtly annoyed when her hand motions seized their comfy rakes through his scruffy hair.

"Phoebe?"

"Hm?"

"I'm hungry."

"Breakfast?"

"T & B?"

"On it."

* * *

"Max, stop using your powers in public."

"Oh relax, would you." he replied with a careless wave, grinning when a customer aggravatingly waited for his food which Max suspended with his telekinesis.

Phoebe cautiously looked around, "Max, what if someone sees you using your powers?"

His grin only widened, gesturing her to follow his gaze. "Pheebs, watch."

She raised her eyebrows in worry when a customer at the table adjacent to theirs leaned forward, tilting his head to peer into the tube in frustration, only to regret it when french fries nailed him in the face. Max chuckled when the customer angrily sprung from his seat and fled out of SplatBurger in furious haste.

"You're driving customers away Max."

He reduced his laughter to mere snickers, casually wiping the corner of his left eye. "But you've got to admit, that was funny."

Phoebe shook her head, not able to stop the tugs to the corner of her lips. "It's rude, that's what it is."

He shrugged, seeing Link move to sit among them, naturally next to Phoebe who leaned to greet him with a hug.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

"Meh, Phoebe was lovesick so she decided to come see you."

"If that's so, what are you doing here?"

"Don't mind me, I'm only here for the free food." he said without a care in the world, seeing Link send him a look. "What? I thought that was our deal. You date my sister, and I get free f~ood." he stammered slowly, something or rather someone having caught his eye as he tilted his head past Phoebe.

Phoebe fully turned and followed his gaze, which landed on a rather attractive looking girl garbed in SplatBurger uniform similar to her boyfriend's. She had lengthy raven hair that dangled at her waist, two bangs framing her temples on both sides of her face, asserted by dark obsidian eyes and full natural pink lips.

"Link, hi."

"Jessica." Link returned.

"I suppose you're on your break."

"Yeah."

Max glared at Link, deliberately clearing his throat.

"Oh, right, let me introduce you to my friends." he said, wrapping an arm around Phoebe. "This is Phoebe Thunderman, my girlfriend."

Jessica extended a hand, shaking her colleague's girlfriend. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jessica Thornē."

Phoebe nodded, suddenly self-conscious when she noticed how pretty the girl before her was, Max's confounded and astounded expression was proof enough.

"And that's Max Thunderman, her twin brother."

Jessica stifled a gasp when the now introduced Max Thunderman literally stood up to full height and pulled her into an unanticipated hug, prompting her to return the gesture, albeit slowly. "Wow, how polite."

Link spared Phoebe a glance, surprised to see her frowning.

* * *

For the following days, Max and Jessica would often be seen together, either at SplatBurger, or any well known hangout spots around town, but mostly the cinema considered the latter was a huge fanatic of blockbusters. Jessica found she had more in common with Max, including similar tastes in movies, same ideologies and theories based on chemical researching and chemistry in general.

Max was ecstatic to find a girl who shared similar sentiments as his, not to mention a rather pretty one at that. She found his pranks humorous, and hung on to each and every word of everything he uttered, she was attentive, especially when he'd talk about his family.

It aggravated and frustrated Phoebe to no ends since all her stupid twin would talk about is how amazing and awesome Jessica was. They only knew each other for two days yet they acted as if they knew one another for years.

They weren't dating yet, which Phoebe at least commended her twin for taking things slow to probably get to know Jessica more, but Phoebe knew it would be only a matter of time before Max decides to up his game and ask her out, she was sure of it.

"And you know what irritates me the most!" she nearly snarled, her hand which held her nail polish trembling out of pure turbulence. "All he talks about is Jessica! Like she's a princess or something! It's so annoying!"

Cherry tilted her head, partially amused since this was arguably a first seeing her best friend look so annoyed and angry at the same time, never mind towards someone fraternizing with her twin. "But I've met Jessica, she seems so sweet and Max likes her." she offered tentatively, in fear of angering Phoebe further.

"Cherry, that's the difference between the two of us, you see the perfect side of everyone, and I see people for who they really are!"

"Is that so?" Cherry returned with a chortle. "Because it seems to me like you're a weenie jealous of Jessica."

Phoebe seized her verbal onslaught, her face contorting from fury to comical confusion. "Jealous, jealous? I'm not jealous, why would I be jealous?"

Cherry maintained her gaze, slowly nodding, waiting for Phoebe to realize and admit her claim.

"Cherry, I'm not jealous."

"I remember when you once said you and Max were getting along, maybe you're just feeling left out now that he's paying more attention to someone else other than you."

Phoebe's mouth moved to retort, only to find herself unable to counter Cherry's averment. She frowned, a part of her knowing her best friend was right. Even so, she couldn't help it, normally she and her twin would be arguing over some frivolous topic but still managed to enjoy each other's company.

But now, it was all gone, within a week, it was gone; everything instantly changed, he changed. He arrived home late, not bothering to ask how she spent her day or how she was doing in general, or insult her (which she honestly woudn't mind given the circumstances), he's either busy talking to Jessica over the phone or locking himself in his lair to keep his conversations with Jessica private.

It was grievous when she knew she couldn't exactly vent her anger on him, knowing he was in the same boat during her relentless dates with Link, which she only got to acknowledge. But if this went on, Max will forget all the good times they shared during the past few days. He'll probably bound her out in favor of Jessica.

"But, I don't want to-lose him!" she blurted, clasping her hands to her mouth when Cherry regarded her. The latter knowing Phoebe always leaked serious 'stuff' she's not supposed to say whenever she clasps her hands to her mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"No, nothing! I didn't say anything!"

Cherry frowned, adopting a complete serious expression. "Phoebe, I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything." she asserted, leaning forward to peer into Phoebe's eyes, something she always did to make her best friend spill knowing how bad she was at keeping secrets.

Phoebe bit her lip, averting her gaze. Over the days, she tried, tried hard to ignore that funny feeling that swelled up in her chest, but his presence alone, and the small exhibitions of care, comfort and subtle affection from him in the form of hugs or when she couldn't stop herself from planting kisses on his cheeks whenever the opportunity presented itself only strengthened that feeling, which she later recognised to be...love. Worse was when it only seemed to grow.

"Phoebe, come on, out with it."

She had to keep it to herself, but she knew that eventually she had to tell someone, bottling it up was torture enough and she was tired of keeping something she couldn't see herself casually verbalize without consequences.

"Phoebe," Cherry prodded, prompting aforementioned teen to fearfully meet the blonde's eyes. "Tell me what you're hiding."

She suddenly teared, tiny glisters pooling in the corner of her eyes, face betrayed by a pained expression as she planted her face into her open palms, releasing a soft sob.

"I-I feel more closer to Max."

"So? He's your brother-"

"You don't understand!"

Cherry's frowned deepened. "Then make me understand."

Phoebe lifted her face, her nose a tinge of red as she wiped away a tear track only for it to be replaced by another.

"I feel more closer to Max than Link."

Cherry gasped, for the first time her thinking capacity paced as she put two and two together, "Bestie."

Phoebe nodded with a hopeless sigh, afterwards biting her lip, allowing the tears to stream down her cheeks, nervously fiddling with her hands, unconsciously messing up the nail paint on her fingernails, raising her head to meet her best friend's shocked eyes.

"I-I think I have feelings for Max."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

"So, what are you gonna do about it?"

It's been nearly two hours since Phoebe revealed she was in love with her twin brother. Naturally, Cherry was shocked, no, appalled was the right term, because it wasn't everyday you learned your best friend harboured intimate feelings toward their own brother, twin nonetheless.

Yet a part of Cherry wasn't entirely shocked, probably because Phoebe was an extremely emotional person and easily fell in love. Through their sophomore years, she recounted that first time with Cole, which she had categorized as love at first sight since Phoebe was all gaga over the blonde.

Although the crush faded within a month after Cole became just that... Cole, Cherry would still admit that her best friend truly wanted something with Cole, which she defined as hardcore first love in her books.

It took a while to get over him, but she eventually did. Yet, her thirst for love never ended there. Cherry could recall them - Alex, Scott, Jason and Tyler, the latter whom she really felt an attraction to for a short while, going as far as asking the boy out on a date to get to know each other better, which ended horribly if she remembers correctly.

Throughout all this, there was one thing Cherry identified, something that all these boys had in common, that specific trait that drew Phoebe to them like a moth to flame that had her so interested nearly falling head over heels for them; and that trait was their undeniably good looks.

So she tried to partially understand her best friend's feelings towards Max considered everyone who knew Max Thunderman, knew that he was no exception when it came to the looks department.

The blonde inwardly shook her head. She knew the two would always bicker and pointlessly be at each other's throats all the time, but they were inseparable, yet even so she still couldn't place it. Why would Phoebe fall for Max?

In retrospect, Phoebe always claimed Max was selfish, arrogant and self centered, perhaps those qualities were what allowed her to ignore his attractiveness, to acknowledge but safely ignore his charms, maybe that's what it all was, it was plausible that summed it up.

"I have to break up with Link."

"Wait, what?"

"I don't love him anymore.",

"Phoebe, don't say that, you're just confused. You do love him, he's sweet and amazing, you even said it yourself the other day."

"I know, but its not there anymore. I don't feel in love with him, at least not like I used to."

"So what, you're just gonna break his poor heart because you happen to 'think' you're in love with your brother, is that it?"

"Cherry, you don't think of another guy when you're having a romantic dinner with your boyfriend. You don't secretly 'wish' for your boyfriend to be that other guy. You don't go day by day with the other guy constantly on your mind." Phoebe retorted as a matter of fact, not seeing the point of holding everything in anymore. "We both know you can't love two people at the same time, its impossible."

Cherry pursed her lips, out of all the craziness at least that made sense. "So, get me to understand. Do you want to be with Max?"

"I-I don't know okay!"

"Because for all we know, he doesn't feel the same way. And he probably won't take it well if he learns you love him that way."

Phoebe sighed, as much as she needed to listen to that reasoning, she couldn't help but argue that point, simply because of the events that occurred the past few days, particularly three days ago to be precise, specifically that moment they nearly kissed. She saw the look in his eyes, brimming with anticipation, and she was certain, so certain he would have kissed her back, if she had.

"Cherry, look-"

"No Phoebe, you look. This is insane! All this is crazy! You can't be in love with Max, it's wrong!" Cherry stated, flailing her arms. "He's your brother, your twin! He's family, and we all know that family don't fall in love with family!"

"Well, tell that to my heart because it apparently didn't get the memo."

Cherry saw this was eating at Phoebe, and it somewhat put her down as well knowing she couldn't help her friend in this predicament, because this was a first, and simply put; incomprehensible.

"Look, maybe its one of those feelings that just come and go, you know. Maybe all you need is time."

"Cherry, I know I'm a person that easily falls in love, but the truth is, I've never felt like this about anyone before, not even Link."

"Alright, let's put it this way." Cherry asserted, trying it from a different angle. "Let's say your feelings are true, that you're actually in love with Max. What do you intend to do with those feelings?"

"I-honestly don't know. It's like a part of me wants something and the other is afraid."

"What specifically made you fall in love with Max?"

"I don't know how to put it in words, but I feel more at ease when I'm around him, his presence, especially now that he's less of a jerk, I can see that he cares about me."

Cherry shook her head. "The real question is, do you want to be with Max?"

"Yes, I want to," she admitted bluntly, the ugly truth. She did want to be with him, even at the cost of forsaking her relationship with Link.

Cherry pursed her lips. "If you do want to be with your brother, in a relationship, isn't he also supposed to like-like you too?"

"Yes."

"Not to sound pessimistic or anything, but the possibility of that ever happening is probably the day pigs fly Phoebe. And even if you confess your feelings to him, he might find it disgusting and never talk to you again."

Phoebe nodded, slowly. Everything Cherry said was right, but words were only words, they differed from actions which spoke volumes. She remembers that moment she nearly kissed him, and he just laid beneath her, waiting, unmoving with no attempts to stop her whatsoever. Not to mention he even dreamt of her as his Empress, all that had to mean something, it just had to.

"I say just ignore this, ignore the feelings you have for Max if you value the healthy relationship you guys have, including your family's." Cherry advised, placing her hand atop Phoebe's. "but if you really, as in seriously love Max, please make sure he feels the same way."

Phoebe looked up. "You're seriously rooting for me?"

Cherry shrugged. "What can I say? I'm your best friend, no matter how crazy the situation is, I'll always be on your side."

Phoebe smiled, and pulled Cherry into a firm hug, "Thank you, Cherry."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

She stepped in, to find him laid back on the couch with his legs dangling over the armrest. At the sound of the closing door, Max hoisted himself up.

"Pheebs, where were you?" he asked, trying not to sound worried, which he was given she was gone for nearly the entire day.

"At Cherry's." she lied, she left Cherry hours ago, in favour of going to SplatBurger for obvious reasons.

He sunk back into the seat, sighing in relief, without her looking of course.

"Figures."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean your social life is what we'd call stagnant because you limit yourself to only one friend." he quipped.

"How rude of you Octavius, how rude."

"Touché, Monica, touché."

"Anyway, have you had dinner?" she asked, moving into the kitchen, "Or let me guess, you and Jessica ate at Splatburger?"

Max rose an eyebrow. "See, now when you put it like that you make it sound like she's my girlfriend or something."

"An honest mistake, since its only a matter of time before you make your move on the poor girl."

"You're still going with the 'you can't make a girl happy because you know nothing about love' card?"

Phoebe smiled, prompting him to send her a dirty look.

"So, is she the one?"

"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that she has dark hair, a decorated personality and she's extremely gorgeous."

"So was Alison."

He groaned.

* * *

Once again, they were slouched on the couch, just the two of them, watching television, except this time there was no arguing, no, this time it was silent, the only sound that marred the tranquil atmosphere being that of the content on the television.

Phoebe fiddled with the sheet, her eyes nervously flickering to him and back to the television.

"I broke up with Link today."

"Did you now?"

His answer was immediate, too immediate in her opinion. That, and it lacked curiousness and the baffled reaction she was expecting from him.

"That's it?"

"Well, what did you expect?" he asked with a shrug. "You probably had your reasons to break up with him, and you did, that's all there is to it."

"Don't you want to hear the reason I broke up with him?"

"Do I need to?"

He didn't need to, but she knew she couldn't put this on hold anymore so he had to know. She figured it would be best to just come out with it. But before she could utter a word, he spoke up.

"Okay, I'll admit I'm kind of curious as to why you let me go through all the trouble of getting the two of you back together only for you to eventually dump the guy which that doesn't make sense." he said, sarcasm dripping from his words, shifting a bit, sparing her a glance. "How did he take it?"

"He said he already suspected I wasn't happy,"

"He was actually cool with it?"

"Yes," she replied curtly.

Max remained quiet, wondering why his twin would break it off with a guy even he had to admit treated her reasonably, days after they reconciled. It didn't make any sense to him, it all seemed too rushed. "Why did you break up with him?"

Phoebe didn't blink, but she felt him turn to face her, persuading her to face him as well. "I didn't love him anymore."

"Why?"

"I just don't."

"Did you realise this before or after he took you out to dinner at a fancy restaurant? I'm kind of lost here, because in your case I expected it to be the other way around." he remarked with a supressed laugh.

Phoebe frowned, nudging him hard, satisfied when he unceremoniously hit his head against the hard armrest. "That's for asking stupid questions and not accepting the simple fact that Link and I are over."

Max stuck his tongue out at her, regretting it with a resound groan when she retaliated by pulling his head into her lap, not wasting time to pinch on his earlobes and pull.

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry! Phoebe, let go!"

She decisively ignored his protests and continuously kept pulling his earlobes, noting how the tip of his ears tinged with a light red, deducing he had enough as she let his ears go. He kept on wincing, releasing pained whimpers as he cautiously nicked his earlobes with a finger.

"You're such a baby Max."

He glared upwards, but the glare was instantly replaced by confusion when her thumb wiped at the corner of his eye left, her face vertically hovering over his, mindful of her hair that draped like a curtain on both sides of his face. He didn't question why her thumb moved to caress his cheek, the rest of her fingers drumming beneath his chin.

Phoebe summoned courage, peering into his hue browns, nostalgia, wondering why it felt so right, so perfect.

There are many things left unsaid after the other day they found themselves in this particular position, but for the briefest of moments, Phoebe could read his mind, urging her to just do it and get it over with, she was no telepath, but for now, she'd forget her priorities.

She dipped her head and pressed her lips against his, with resolute want, desperation and yearn.

She found it incongruous and strange at first, when he didn't kiss back, in that one moment she instantly knew she messed up, but her thoughts were thrown out the window, thrown out to be long forgotten when she felt her pulse rise, acknowledging the fact that he was kissing her back.


	9. Chapter 9

Phoebe blinked.

"Phoebe?"

A thorough nictation, she turned her head to Max who casually stared at her.

"Are you alright? You look uglier than usual."

The 'playful' insult didn't deter how shocked she was. It was strange. That moment felt real. As real as it could get. She was proverbially confused. What just happened? They were talking about her sudden split with Link and next thing she knew she was pulling on his earlobes, cradling his head on her lap, then... it disappeared, just like that.

She scrunched her nose when a certain stench invaded her nostrils. "Max!"

Max chuckled, retracting his foot from her face and complacently placed it on the table. "Not my fault you were daydreaming."

"Then it gave you the great idea of putting your stinky stocks in my face."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"You're disgusting."

"And you're the dumper, dumper."

Phoebe got on track. "Look, Link and I decided it would be best if we were to remain just friends."

"In other words you broke the guy's heart in petty vengeance when he wouldn't talk to you after his secret got out."

"What? No, that's not it!"

"It may not be it but I think that's how he took it. Think about it, if we were dating-"

"We?"

"Ugh, if Jessica and I-"

"I can play a part in the we!"

He rose an eyebrow. "If you were Jessica (which I highly doubt you can pull off)-"

"I heard that!"

"-and I was me-"

"That doesn't make any sense-"

"Do you want me to explain or not?!"

"Sorry... go on."

He glared. "And your brother read your diary without you knowing about it and leaks my embarrassing secret in public. I'd immediately assume you told him because you were the only one I told."

"Yeah, but-"

"Your handsome brother-" She rolled her eyes. "-apologises and comes clean that he read your diary and he was the reason I refused to talk to you."

"But it isn't revenge-"

"Link doesn't know that, he probably thinks it but he doesn't know the real reason why you dumped him. What makes it worse is that you broke up with him right after the week he stopped talking to you."

"...Is that what he really thinks?"

"I don't know."

"But you're a boy." She scooted closer. "Would you have felt the same way if you thought me dumping you was out of revenge...if you were in the same position?"

"Uh, yeah, I would."

"He probably hates me now! What do I do?!"

Max rolled his eyes. "Dweebs, calm down, he's not mad at you-"

"You don't know that!"

"Come on, this is Link we're talking about. Sure he has a powerful ex-supervillain for a father but he's a soft guy, a good guy, he wouldn't hate anyone, especially you of all people."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure."

Phoebe pat his hand.

"Thanks."

"Think nothing of it." He stood up. "Now that we've passed the drama, could you be a dear and maybe cook a little something because I'm starving from all that counselling."

"I thought you said I couldn't cook to save my own skin."

"Let bygones be bygones Phoebe."

"Hmm, I don't think I can forgive you for insulting my culinary skills Max, at least not yet. Why not just order pizza?"

"For dinner? Are you mad? That's a stupid idea. Who orders pizza for dinner?"

"Well, you are starving aren't you?"

"I prefer a homemade meal Phoebe."

"And you expect me to cook? For you?"

"Alright, what do you want?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm hungry! So what do you want me to do? Apologise? Beg? On my knees perhaps?"

"Oh,"

This was new. Him, resorting to mendicancy for the sole purpose of getting a meal. Here was the moment she actually doubted her own culinary skills. She couldn't depend on Pinterest like she usually did. Its been a consecutive month since she ever prepared something edible, or relatively edible for anyone with the exception of Billy who in all verity didn't possess any cognizable appetite.

But Max, was not Billy. He was her twin. He was close. Very close. Painfully close. Intimately close - the type of 'close' that guarantees careful consideration of everything that leaves her mouth or how she behaves around him. In simple terms, she developed a crush, on her twin, with a unique turbulence of emotion which animated into love.

Her lips stretching at the briefest of moments, Phoebe schooled her facial expression and harmoniously composed herself.

"So, what do you want?"

"Anything."

"You have to be more specific Max. I haven't cooked in a while, and 'anything' isn't an option dumby."

"Surprise me."

Phoebe sprung to her feet.

xXx

"You know, if you wanted to kill me, there are a lot of ways you could have gone with instead of poisoning." he spoke up as he took a seat in one of the chairs around the kitchen table.

"Okay, now you're just being childish. I didn't poison your food." Phoebe replied, sitting in the chair next to his.

"What's this?" Max inquired, pointing to the green mushroom-like thingie which in his opinion looked uncooked.

"That's broccoli Max."

"Gross!"

"Do you even know what it is?"

"Uh, its green; that alone makes it a vegetable which means its healthy and probably tastes disgusting."

"Look," She abducted the fork from his grasp and stabbed into his broccoli, casually throwing it into her mouth and made her debut chews. "See, not disgusting... just munchy and bit a bland, but healthy and that's what matters."

"Nah, still not gonna eat it." He retained his fork with a face. "Great, you used my fork."

xXx

"And what does this do?"

"It will give you a beard if you keep pointing it to your face like that."

"What about this pink one?"

"What pink o~ne?" His eyes widened, jumping to retrieve his invention, only to frown when she kept it out of his reach. "Give it back."

"If it gets you this jumpy then it must be important." She turned her back to him and rotated the pink blaster-thingie, acknowledging the thick label strip behind it. "Resplendence-Blaster?"

"Phoebe! No!"

Her finger was already pressed on the trigger button as the blaster released a 'puff' around her face. Dropping the object out of instinct, Phoebe pressed a hand over her mouth and escaped the pink plume of smoke, bumping into him in the process.

She coughed lightly, lifting her head unaware of the unprecedented proximity of their faces and the moment she met his eyes, he froze.

"Max?"

His eyes didn't leave hers.

"A-Are you alright?"

"I think so." She looked herself over. "Apart from that weird smoke, nothing looks or feels out of place so I guess that's a good sign. Good thing your invention malfunctioned."

A proverbial deer caught in hypnotizing headlights, Max rose a hand to her face, washing surprise across her face at the motion, suddenly finding her face extremely intriguing and weirdly appealing.

 _'She's so, beautiful...'_

Her eyes widened.

"I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

She nodded, a slow widening smile gracing her lips.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You just called me beautiful."

"Doesn't mean anything."

She scoffed.

"Seriously, I just said it to describe how you fantastically look funny up close." he offered unconvincingly, rounding her to levitate the pink blaster into his possession.

"How funny I look up close? That's the best you could come up with?" She watched him pile the invention in his closet, shaking her head. "Max, if you think I'm pretty its not a crime to say it."

"Phoebe, you're making this weird."

"I'm not." she replied "Besides, I am your empress, its your privilege to call me beautiful, isn't it?"

"I'll kill you Phoebe."

This was easy.

"No you won't." she countered, finding it very easy to induct what she felt into their needless squabble in the most innocuous manner possible. "You're the emperor, I'm your empress. You chose me because I'm the most beautiful girl in the world and the only one capable enough to rule beside _you_ , my emperor."

Max winced when his chest stung at that 'playful' insinuation. He wasn't sure if she knew, but he was violently trying to subjugate this wrong feeling of 'maybe' 'liking' his twin more than just a sister.

They just couldn't be stopped. Every so often, he'd dream about her in what seemed to be the depiction of them being in a more intimate relationship. There were kisses, hugs, and other 'stuff' he wouldn't dare think about. It was weird when they wouldn't argue, instead cuddle and osculate most of the time they spent together.

He felt guilty at the inadvertent disappointed feeling that churned in his stomach whenever he wakes up to realise all the mental images he saw were nothing but faux. Phoebe would never like him that way.

But there were times he couldn't help but reconsider and acknowledge that lingering 'maybe'. Justified by the way she often looks at him, the kisses on his cheeks, the awkward and sometimes lengthy hugs or just the plain teasing.

To make matters worse, she just so happened to have fiddled with what she wasn't supposed to touch in the first place - The Resplendence Blaster - a blaster created to enhance the physical appeal of anyone who is exposed to the special gas released by the blaster for a short period of time.

Looking at her now, she was radiating with outmost beauty. Her face bathing in the rays of virtual light that pronounced just how beautiful she was.

He saw this, she didn't. The invention worked, and she obviously didn't know. To her it malfunctioned. But to him, she just made his heart skip a beat.

Regaining his bearings when he realised he was staring, he turned to one of his monitors, remembering the uproar of miscellaneous files that required deletion.

"You should stop saying that."

"Why? Because its the truth?"

"No, because its annoying and the fact that you say it every hour of the day makes it even more annoying if not weird."

"You don't love me?"

"See, love is too big, and I have a small heart. It just won't squeeze in there."

"Is there any chance your heart can become big enough?"

" _Yeah_ , but I doubt it will be anytime soon."

"Well, if it does, what you'll eventually be looking for may just be nearer than you thought."

Phoebe hugged him from behind, gaining enough space at the simplest of turns to plant her lips on his forehead.

"Goodnight."

Leaving Max to mule on her words.

' _Nearer than I thought?'_

xXx

"Pretty awkward, huh?"

Against all odds, Max dragged his twin to her now ex boyfriend's work place. Not that she actually put it past him to not poke at her amputated relationship with Link as a means of displaying somewhat sympathy, but once he opened his mouth, he just talked and never stopped - as in this particular moment.

"What?"

"You, sitting next to exploited privileges."

Link and Phoebe traded glances.

"What?"

"What I mean is, that you won't be able to hold each other like you used to now that you're no longer together. Isn't that weird?"

"Actually, no it isn't." Link responded with an easy, complacent smile, wrapping an arm around Phoebe's shoulders. "We're still friends, doesn't mean we can't hug every once in a while."

Phoebe nodded along, managing to keep her eyes from lingering on Jessica who sat next to her brother in the seat across her.

"Funny, and I've yet to see you shove your tongue down her throat."

"That's disgusting Max."

Jessica giggled. In the few days of hanging out with Max, she has come to learn of some of his 'special' traits and habits which could be noted down as perversion of anything innocuous and normal.

Phoebe sent the raven haired a cursory glance before flicking her eyes back to Max, inwardly sighing when Link's arm left her.

"What about you and Jessica?"

They both perked up.

"What?"

"I mean, you're friends but I never see you hug or hold her like a friend is supposed to."

"I hug her!"

"I dissent." Jessica spoke up for the first time, eliciting giggles from the former couple. "Max never holds me. And I mean never. Its like he's afraid if he touches me I'll be fragile enough to break and shatter on the ground."

Link smiled, in opposition of the glare before him, turning to his colleague. "Really?"

Jessica nodded. "Yeah, I remember this one time, I think it was last week at the cinema..."

xXx

"I tried telling him its okay to put his arm around me but he refused even though we both know he wanted to!" Jessica informed through chuckles at the expense of her annoyed friend glumly sitting beside her. "His arm kept twitching for almost an hour until he decided it was time to leave!"

Removing her hand from her mouth, Phoebe seized her chuckles. "What about when you guys crossed that aisle into 'Wonder Tour'?"

"I craved for ice cream that day and politely asked him to buy me one. Oh boy, you should have seen his face!"

"What did he do?" Link ventured, relishing the annoyed look on the ever cocky Max.

"He bought me one but he made it absolutely clear that he was just doing it because I asked not because he actually wanted to!"

"It was a friendly gesture alright!"

"But you were blushing and you couldn't keep your eyes off of me from then on. You kept glancing at me when you thought I wasn't looking."

"You saw those?... I-I mean, what at are you talking about? What looks?!"

Jessica shook her head, an innocent smile adorning her features. "He knows that I know that he likes me, he's just in denial."

Phoebe nodded. "Classic Max."

"So when are you guys making it official?" Link blatantly asked, aware of the tranquil atmosphere, unaware of the sudden ache in Phoebe's chest.

Jessica lightly shrugged, diverting her attention from Link to Phoebe, the two girls instantly locking eyes. "We do make a cute couple, don't we?"

Phoebe allowed an agonizing painful swallow. Her eyes flickering towards Max whose eyebrows were raised in surprise at Jessica's brazen query.

His hair was a bit longer now. His swoosh a teensy-weensy higher; the extra strands neatly tucked behind his ears and a few falling on his face. He was so handsome. And it broke her heart when she couldn't help but agree that her twin and Jessica made an undeniable cute match.

"Phoebe, what do you think?"

"Um, yes." she responded awkwardly with her head down, doing a poor job of repressing her undying yearn for some time alone with her brother. It gets worse, his 'friend' wouldn't stop looking at her; not to mention each time she met Jessica's eyes its like the raven haired knew her dirtiest secret.

"Anyway, moving on from this awkward and slightly embarrassing conversation." Max asserted, leaning back into the seat. "There's this new carnival coming in town tomorrow from-"

"Swellview, I heard about that." Link interjected, "I'm free on Saturday if you guys are game."

"Me too." Max said, turning to his seat neighbour. "Jess?"

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"Its affectionate."

"It sounds dirty Max."

"Are you free on Saturday or not?"

"I guess I am."

"Pheebs?"

"Yeah, I'll-"

"You let him call you that?"

"He's been calling me that ever since we learned how to talk. I just got used to it."

Jessica allowed a soft smile. She was always curious about the twins. They each seemed to erect this individual wall between them when their together, but in reality it was the other way around.

"The two of you must have been close."

Phoebe scoffed. "Butt-face here has been making my life a living hell to date from the day he decapitated my favourite dolls when we were kids."

"I thought you forgave me for that?"

"Forgive? Yes; Forget? Not so much. Those were keepsakes."

"So its decided then, Phoebe's not coming."

xXx

"Do you mind if I invite Cherry?"

"Its a social event Phoebe, you can bring whomever you want." he said through gritted teeth. "How the hell does this thing work?!"

"Here, let me give you a hand with that." She opened the lid and frowned in disappointment, flicking him a glare. "Max, there's only soap but no water in here. How do you expect it to work without a solvent?"

Max flipped the manual upside down before tossing it over his shoulder. "Mom usually does this for me."

"Well Mom isn't here." she said, her thongs flapping against the concrete floor as she levitated a large bucket over to the tap. "And you'll eventually have to learn to do this by yourself because Mom won't be here forever."

"Its tedious." he whined.

"But building a functional rocket able to perforate the earth's atmosphere and orbit into space is a walk in the park."

"I know, right? My intellect knows no bounds."

Hovering the bucket full of water into the automatic washer, Phoebe tilted her head. "Yet you're unable to do the simplest of tasks like washing your underwear, folding your own clothes, cooking your own food, making your own bed-"

"Those are chores for women."

"No wonder why you're still single."

"Watch your-"

She slipped, her flip-flop sliding along the wet concrete surface as her foot buckled in a scrape of her ankle stumbling into the ready arms of her brother who anticipated her descend and caught her in time.

", step. Are you alright?"

"No, I think I snapped my ankle." she whispered through a wince, regarding the scratches adorning her stinging ankle joint. "Can you help me inside?"

"Sure." Carefully wrapping an arm around her waist, Max slowly guided her into the kitchen backdoor.

xXx

"Ouch! Be gentle!"

"You're lucky you didn't break it." he said, 'gently' cruising the ice pack along her ankle, which was elevated on a pillow resting on his lap.

"This is your fault."

"How is this my fault?"

"Because you can't wash your own underwear and had me do it for you. Then this happened."

Max released a breath.

She was wearing a 'very' short denim short with a white top and black flip-flops. Her long, unmarred leg draped along the couch and onto his lap. Opting with a carefree ponytail, Phoebe still managed to look pleasing to the eye; the same eyes which proved unable to meet her own.

 _'I seriously need a girlfriend ASAP. I can't deal with this.'_

Phoebe breathed lightly as the cooling effect numbed the twinging on her ankle unaware of the her twin's inner turmoil.

"I think that's about it."

He carefully used his telekinetic powers to lower her foot and levitated it along with the pillow onto the table.

Phoebe couldn't complain, the fact that he did this for her when she was certain he wouldn't lift a finger for her was cogent evidence that he cares about her well being to an extent.

"You know, I think I'm getting used to this."

"What?"

"This new you."

"Tch."

"No seriously. You cleaned the kitchen and made breakfast; the bacon, the odd timing of soufflé which was unusually delicious in my opinion. You did all this, willingly."

"Well, someone had to do it since your lazy butt was in bed all morning."

"And the married couple banter, never gets old." she quipped, hesitantly leaning against his shoulder, inwardly chastising herself when she felt him tense, probably in malaise of the contact. Just as she was about to remove her head, he eased and leaned back, prompting her to release a slow breath of alleviation.

"You said something."

"I said a lot of things."

"I mean before you went to bed, two days ago." he spoke carefully. "You mentioned about something I'll eventually be looking for that may just be nearer than I think."

"You remember that?"

"Well, it sounded weird, and..."

Honestly, whatever she said had something to do with love since its all the two of them would continuously talk about for the past few days. It ate at him not knowing what she meant, especially when he developed an unhealthy 'concern' for her - specifically the illustrious disguise of wrongful attraction for her.

"I couldn't stand the fact that you told me something I couldn't understand. That means you think I'm dumb."

Phoebe playfully lifted her head from his shoulder and mockingly smiled at him. "Really?"

"Yeah, I hate it when people think I'm dumb and mock my intelligence."

"That's what you're seriously going with?"

He shrugged, unconvincingly, shifting a bit in the process. "Look, its not like there's anything to it. I'm just... curious by what you meant that's all."

"Honestly, it didn't mean anything at all."

"Okay." he agreed instantly.

Phoebe's smile grew when his lips quivered, a clear sign of desperation. "Max, it was nothing."

"But you mentioned my heart!" He clutched his chest for emphasis. "I know its small but its very fragile too!"

"Aw, I didn't mean any harm." she played along, satisfied when he caught on and allowed a knowing smirk, throwing her arms open. "How about a warm hug to make it up?"

He wasn't allowed a chance to contemplate as her arms intruded and slithered to the nape of his neck pulling him into her. He reciprocated and wrapped his arms around her, the ends of her ponytail mere tickles on his fingers. The fact that he felt every inch of her chest encouraged his heart to add that extra umph.

The amount of time they held one another was overdue and completely unnecessary considered they were twins, but the concealed delight of having the other in their arms was emotionally exhilarating.

Max breathed through his nose, leaning back out of her hold as he removed his arms, so did she, but her hands tethered along his jawline, compelling him to inquisitively meet her glassy eyes.

Phoebe couldn't find it within herself to pull away. The confusion bubbled. If Max didn't in the slightest feel the same way; he wouldn't let her go this far; he wouldn't project similar desire in his eyes; he wouldn't keep on staring at her lips with the agonising wait for her to just lean in and make contact with his parted lips.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" he whispered almost inaudibly, tearing his eyes from her lips.

"You really want to know?"

"The truth this time."

Phoebe's lips twitched in delight, but just to make sure, her hands cruised around his neck and tugged ever so slightly to mark her intentions.

His gaze never wavered at her touch; he didn't outwardly react either when her face incinerated the distance between them. It was clear she wanted to kiss him, and he wouldn't stop her. There was no denying he wanted this; to kiss her and make amends that his heart wasn't fooling and misdirecting him including that slight chance she might just have 'feelings' for him as well. It could be his imagination but at this point he was certain she felt something for him, just as he did for her.

When the grip behind his neck tightened, he closed his eyes, as did Phoebe. And for the first time ever with both aware of what they were doing; their lips touched-

"Ahem!"

They recoiled and sprung apart, whipping their heads to the side.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"


End file.
